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Tajadini H, Cornelissen JJLM, Zadegan R, Ravan H. An approach for state differentiation in nucleic acid circuits: Application to diagnostic DNA computing. Anal Chim Acta 2024; 1294:342266. [PMID: 38336407 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.342266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Differentiating between different states in nucleic acid circuits is crucial for various biological applications. One approach, there is a requirement for complicated sequential summation, which can be excessive for practical purposes. By selectively labeling biologically significant states, this study tackles the issue and presents a more cost-effective and streamlined solution. The challenge is to efficiently distinguish between different states in a nucleic acid circuit. RESULTS An innovative method is introduced in this study to distinguish between states in a nucleic acid circuit, emphasizing the biologically relevant ones. The circuit comprises four DNA logic gates and two detection modules, one for determining fetal gender and the other for diagnosing X-linked genetic disorders. The primary module generates a G-quadruplex DNAzyme when activated by specific biomarkers, which leads to a distinct colorimetric signal. The secondary module responds to hemophilia and choroideremia biomarkers, generating one or two DNAzymes. The absence of female fetus indicators results in no DNAzyme or color change. The circuit can differentiate various fetal states by producing one to four active DNAzymes in response to male fetus biomarkers. A single-color solution for state differentiation is provided by this approach, which promises significant advancements in DNA computing and diagnostic applications. SIGNIFICANCE The innovative approach used in this study to distinguish states in nucleic acid circuits holds great significance. By selectively labeling biologically relevant states, circuit design is simplified and complexity is reduced. This advancement enables cost-effective and efficient diagnostic applications and contributes to DNA computing, providing a valuable solution to a fundamental problem.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanie Tajadini
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran
| | - Jeroen J L M Cornelissen
- Department of Molecules & Materials, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, AE, 7500, the Netherlands
| | - Reza Zadegan
- Department of Nanoengineering, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC, USA
| | - Hadi Ravan
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran; Department of Molecules & Materials, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, AE, 7500, the Netherlands.
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Rehmann-Sutter C, Timmermans DRM, Raz A. Non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT): is routinization problematic? BMC Med Ethics 2023; 24:87. [PMID: 37884894 PMCID: PMC10604734 DOI: 10.1186/s12910-023-00970-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The introduction and wide application of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has triggered further evolution of routines in the practice of prenatal diagnosis. 'Routinization' of prenatal diagnosis however has been associated with hampered informed choice and eugenic attitudes or outcomes. It is viewed, at least in some countries, with great suspicion in both bioethics and public discourse. However, it is a heterogeneous phenomenon that needs to be scrutinized in the wider context of social practices of reproductive genetics. In different countries with their different regulatory frameworks, different patterns of routines emerge that have different ethical implications. This paper discusses an ethics of routines informed by the perspectives of organizational sociology and psychology, where a routine is defined as a repetitive, recognizable pattern of interdependent organizational actions that is carried out by multiple performers. We favour a process approach that debunks the view - which gives way to most of the concerns - that routines are always blindly performed. If this is so, routines are therefore not necessarily incompatible with responsible decision-making. Free and informed decision-making can, as we argue, be a key criterion for the ethical evaluation of testing routines. If free and informed decision-making by each pregnant woman is the objective, routines in prenatal testing may not be ethically problematic, but rather are defensible and helpful. We compare recent experiences of NIPT routines in the context of prenatal screening programmes in Germany, Israel and the Netherlands. Notable variation can be observed between these three countries (i) in the levels of routinization around NIPT, (ii) in the scope of routinization, and (iii) in public attitudes toward routinized prenatal testing. CONCLUSION An ethics of routines in the field of prenatal diagnostics should incorporate and work with the necessary distinctions between levels and forms of routines, in order to develop sound criteria for their evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniëlle R M Timmermans
- Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Public and Occupational Health, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Aviad Raz
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel
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Sperling K, Scherb H, Neitzel H. Population monitoring of trisomy 21: problems and approaches. Mol Cytogenet 2023; 16:6. [PMID: 37183244 PMCID: PMC10183086 DOI: 10.1186/s13039-023-00637-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/02/2023] [Indexed: 05/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) is the most common autosomal aneuploidy among newborns. About 90% result from meiotic nondisjunction during oogenesis, which occurs around conception, when also the most profound epigenetic modifications take place. Thus, maternal meiosis is an error prone process with an extreme sensitivity to endogenous factors, as exemplified by maternal age. This contrasts with the missing acceptance of causal exogenous factors. The proof of an environmental agent is a great challenge, both with respect to ascertainment bias, determination of time and dosage of exposure, as well as registration of the relevant individual health data affecting the birth prevalence. Based on a few exemplary epidemiological studies the feasibility of trisomy 21 monitoring is illustrated. In the nearer future the methodical premises will be clearly improved, both due to the establishment of electronic health registers and to the introduction of non-invasive prenatal tests. Down syndrome is a sentinel phenotype, presumably also with regard to other congenital anomalies. Thus, monitoring of trisomy 21 offers new chances for risk avoidance and preventive measures, but also for basic research concerning identification of relevant genomic variants involved in chromosomal nondisjunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karl Sperling
- Institute of Medical and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Hagen Scherb
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Heidemarie Neitzel
- Institute of Medical and Human Genetics, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany
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McKinn S, Javid N, Newson AJ, Freeman L, Bonner C, Shand AW, Nassar N, Bell KJ. Clinician views and experiences of non-invasive prenatal genetic screening tests in Australia. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2022; 62:830-837. [PMID: 35538635 PMCID: PMC10946867 DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2021] [Revised: 03/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) is being increasingly used by expectant parents. Much provision of this test in Australia is occurring in clinical settings where specialised genetic counselling is unavailable, such as general practice. Potential psychosocial consequences from this kind of prenatal genetic screening remain largely unexplored. AIMS To explore clinicians' experiences with NIPS for aneuploidy, their perspectives of the benefits and harms of NIPS, clinicians' information needs, and their perceptions of the needs of expectant parents. MATERIALS AND METHODS Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 17 health professionals (clinical geneticists, obstetricians, genetic counsellors and general practitioners) who request and counsel for NIPS in Australian hospital and private practice settings, conducted between June 2019 and February 2020. RESULTS Five themes were identified relating to clinicians' perceptions and experiences of NIPS in their practice: perceived benefits of NIPS, perceived harms of NIPS (with two subthemes: clinical harms and psychosocial harms), financial and equity-related concerns, counselling as a protective buffer against perceived harms, and clinicians' unmet education needs. While clinicians view NIPS as a useful and high-quality screening test, especially for detection of common trisomies, many participants had concerns about how NIPS has been implemented in practice, particularly the quality (and often absence) of pre-/post-test counselling and the routinisation of testing for sex chromosome aneuploidies, microdeletion and microduplication syndromes. CONCLUSION These findings support the need for targeted clinician training around NIPS, and for a shared decision-making approach to support expectant parents' autonomous decisions about NIPS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon McKinn
- Wiser Healthcare, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Nasrin Javid
- Sydney Institute for Women, Children and their FamiliesSydney Local Health DistrictSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Women and Babies Ambulatory CareRoyal Prince Alfred HospitalSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Ainsley J. Newson
- Bioethics, Wiser Healthcare and Sydney Health Ethics, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Lucinda Freeman
- School of Women and Children's HealthUniversity of New South WalesSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Carissa Bonner
- Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Antonia W. Shand
- Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyAustralia
- Royal Hospital for WomenDepartment of Maternal Fetal MedicineSydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Natasha Nassar
- Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology, Children's Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Katy J.L. Bell
- Clinical Epidemiology, Wiser Healthcare, Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and HealthThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
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Multidisciplinary perspectives on the regulation of diagnostic technologies. Soc Sci Med 2022; 304:115059. [PMID: 35715015 PMCID: PMC9195643 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Xiao G, Zhao Y, Huang W, Hu L, Wang G, Luo H. Health economic evaluation of noninvasive prenatal testing and serum screening for down syndrome. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0266718. [PMID: 35421148 PMCID: PMC9009700 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Down syndrome (DS), also known as trisomy 21 (T21), is the most common genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability. There are two methods commonly used for prenatal testing of DS: serum screening (SS) for biomarkers in maternal serum and noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for aneuploidy by cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in maternal plasma. However, cost-effectiveness analyses of these two methods are mostly based on data derived from simulations with various models, with theoretical values calculated. In this study, we statistically analyzed clinical DS screening data and pregnancy outcomes during the follow-up of pregnant women in Zhuhai City, China. The economics of the two mainstream prenatal DS screening methods was evaluated from a public health perspective. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the data of 17,363 pregnant women who received SS and NIPT during gestation in Zhuhai from 2018 to 2019, and a cost-effectiveness analysis was performed with four screening strategies. In strategy I, all pregnant women received SS, and those with T21 risk ≥1/270 had invasive prenatal diagnosis (IPD). In strategy II, all pregnant women received SS, those with T21 risk ≥ 1/270 had IPD, and those with 1/270 > T21 risk ≥ 1/1,000 had NIPT; then, women at high risk based on NIPT also had IPD. In strategy III, all pregnant women received SS, and those with T21 risk ≥1,000 had NIPT; then, women at high risk based on NIPT results had IPD. In strategy IV, all pregnant women received NIPT and those at high risk based on NIPT results had IPD. Finally, to assess the cost and effectiveness of DS screening, the total costs were calculated as the sum of screening and diagnosis as well as the direct and indirect economic burden during the average life cycle of DS patients. Results A total of 22 of the 17,363 (1/789) pregnant women had DS, of which only one woman was over 35 years of age. SS detected 1,024 cases at high risk of T21 (≥1/270), 8 cases were true positive, with a positive predictive value of 0.78% and a detection rate of 36.4%. NIPT detected 27 cases at high risk of T21 (Z ≥ 3) and 22 cases of DS, with a positive predictive value of 81.5% and a detection rate of 100%. Strategy I had the largest total cost of 65.54 million CNY, strategy II and III had similar total costs of 40 million CNY, and strategy IV had the lowest total cost of 14.91 million CNY. By comparison, the screening strategy with NIPT alone had the highest health economic value for DS. Conclusions SS was greatly affected by nuchal translucency and the accuracy of gestational age measured by ultrasonography. Unstandardized ultrasonography was an important reason for the low DS detection rate with SS. The influence of interfering factors on NIPT was much lower than in SS. NIPT can be used as an alternative to SS and as a primary screening strategy of prenatal DS screening for secondary prevention and control of birth defects. NIPT greatly decreased the frequency of IPD and the miscarriages associated with IPD, saved the limited medical and health resources, and greatly increased DS detection rate. Therefore, NIPT has great social and economic benefits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gefei Xiao
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Yanling Zhao
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
| | - Wuyan Huang
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
| | - Liqing Hu
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
| | - Guoqing Wang
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
| | - Huayu Luo
- Department of Clinic Laboratory (Institute of medical genetics), Zhuhai Center for Maternal and Child Healthcare, Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China
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Bowman-Smart H, Taylor-Sands M. Fetal information as shared information: using NIPT to test for adult-onset conditions. Monash Bioeth Rev 2021; 39:82-102. [PMID: 34971442 DOI: 10.1007/s40592-021-00142-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/16/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
The possibilities of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) are expanding, and the use of NIPT for adult-onset conditions may become widely available in the near future. If parents use NIPT to test for these conditions, and the pregnancy is continued, they will have information about the child's genetic predisposition from birth. In this paper, we argue that prospective parents should be able to access NIPT for an adult-onset condition, even when they have no intention to terminate the pregnancy. We begin by outlining the arguments against testing in such a situation, which generally apply the same considerations that apply in the predictive testing of a minor to the fetus in utero. We then contend, firstly, that there are important practical considerations that support availability of testing for prospective parents regardless of their stated intentions. Secondly, we object to the ethical equation of a fetus in utero with a minor. We base our analysis on a view of pregnancy that conceptualises the fetus as a part of the gestational parent, as opposed to the more common 'container' model of pregnancy. We suggest that fetal information is best conceptualised as shared information between the gestational parent and future child. Thus, it should be approached in similar ways as other kinds of shared information (such as genetic information with implications for family members), where a person has a claim over their own information, but should be encouraged to consider the interests of other relevant parties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hilary Bowman-Smart
- Biomedical Ethics Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia. .,Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia.
| | - Michelle Taylor-Sands
- Biomedical Ethics Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, 50 Flemington Rd, Parkville, VIC, 3052, Australia.,Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Australia.,Victorian Mental Health Tribunal, Melbourne, Australia
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